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VI APPENDIX
Literacy as a whole-school issue: an English teacher’s input
The secondary school English teacher does not have enough English teaching
time to adequately cover all that is required. Literacy needs to be a whole-school
issue in that a student’s literacy, or lack of it, impacts on all other subjects. For
instance, a student might not achieve his/her expected grade in a maths exam
because that student might not fully understand the question due to a basic literacy
problem. Subjects, other than English, that require a student to write at length
(such as history) realize that a student’s ability to express him-/ herself does count.
Of course, reading is about understanding as well as recognizing words.
However, there is a great deal the English teacher can do to help a student
improve. Following are a few starting points that can be given out to students, to
make them think about their reading. I can improve my reading by:
• Knowing that reading is difficult to do well and needs to be worked at.
• Looking for the meanings of what I am reading.
• Using my experience of reading other texts to help me understand this text.
• Knowing what the text was written for.
• Realizing that I don’t have to read harder books to become a better reader.
• Knowing that I never stop learning how to read lots of different types of texts.
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Inspired English teaching
Reading times
In some schools, students are encouraged to read for 15 minutes every day. This
can be achieved through form time but, in my experience, that does depend upon
the form teacher. Some encourage students to read silently for the allotted time,
others let the reading slip in some way. Some English departments require students
of all ages to bring books in from home or from the school or public library.
Students are then asked to read quietly for 15 minutes at the start or the end of
most English lessons. I encourage this, providing that students are on task and that
a box of books is kept in the classroom for those who have ‘forgotten’ to bring in
their reading books. Students also need to keep a log of their reading, which will
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amount to more than just the blurb at the back of the book. In my opinion, students
should be allowed to read fiction and nonfiction. It does not matter – as long as
they are reading! When a student’s reading improves, his/her work improves
across the curriculum.
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